Finding Kyuubi
by leneypoo
Summary: Naruto Uzumaki is recruited for a spiritual hunt to bring the Kyuubi no Yoko to justice.
1. Naruto's Bad Day

**Disclaimer: **Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I am not doing this for payment.

**Finding Kyuubi **

by: leneypoo

Chapter One: Naruto's Bad Day

Maybe it was having to wait until his routine welcoming party of bullies (and the requisite crowd of onlookers) went inside the academy building, just making it before the doors shut him out. Maybe it was the pop quiz that he failed, _again_. Maybe it was being ridiculed by Sensei afterwards.

"Uzumaki, this type of performance is not acceptable!" Sensei yelled, "You have failed every single test this semester."

Naruto Uzumaki wasn't the sharpest kunai in the pouch but he had a hunch that today was shaping up to be a shitty day.

His blue eyes glared at Sensei; what was this guy's problem anyways? "Very well, I will be alerting your parents after classes." Sensei said, turning around and walking back to his desk.

Not missing a beat, Sensei stopped and wheeled around. "Oops, I forgot! You don't have parents don't you?" Sensei asked, pulling a disapproving face.

Naruto clenched his fists, the heated blood pounding in his head made him squint; he wanted more than anything to be able to leap from his seat and punch Sensei in the face at that moment. But it was Sensei, and he was sure that that would be the last straw. He'd probably be expelled from the Ninja Academy. So, Naruto continued to stare at Sensei's insincere sympathy on his stupid fat face. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised."

There were snickers from around the class. Naruto clenched his pencil and put up a strong front, instead of retreating into himself. Even if he hid, he knew the laughter would still ring through the air and worm its way into his heart. Still, there was the greater fear that he would no longer be significant enough to laugh at.

So, he put on a wild shit eating grin and laughed, "It doesn't matter anyways...Hokage don't have to pass stupid tests!"

Recess was not much better. Naruto had made for his usual spot at the swings, where he was generally left alone. However, today was a special occasion: there were three classmates waiting for him there. Ken, a boy with black hair shaved to an inch of its life and Toshiro, a tall kid with a mane of brown hair sporting a silver earing on his right ear. They stood at the side of Midori, a blond girl with freckles that lined her face like smudges of dirt. "Ne, is it true that Naruto's got no family?" Midori crowed, peering down at him with green eyes like peas.

Snickers arose from the other two boys and Naruto narrowed his eyes into slits. "My father tells me that Naruto came from the bushes," Toshiro said.

"Maybe he was raised by wolves," Midori suggested.

"Nah, more like pigs or something. Wolves are too cool to associate with filth like dead last Uzumaki!"

All the anger that was percolating within Naruto that day rose to a furious boil. With a growl, Naruto rolled up the sleeves of his orange jumpsuit and swung at Midori.

The blond girl shrieked and ducked, just missing his fist. Toshiro and Ken advanced inward, throwing punches and kicks of their own. Naruto grabbed at Toshiro's shirt and yanked the larger kid down to his knees. Just as he kicked him in th gut, Naruto felt a tight rip on his hair, he could feel his scalp being stretched and was thrown off guard. Toshiro took the opportunity to get up and punch the blond in his face. "Shit," Naruto swore, spitting out blood from his cut lip.

He twisted around, feeling the sharp pain of hair being ripped from his scalp and kicked Ken in the crotch. Ken made a strangled sound and dropped to the ground.

Naruto was barely able to grin when he felt the back of his head get cuffed. Whirling around with a grow, he lashed out hitting Toshiro in the temple. Toshiro staggered back and Naruto took his chance, he tackled head first into the larger boys gut.

They tumbled to the ground in a jumble of writhing limbs. Just as Naruto felt an arm wrap around his neck, the shrieking voice of Midori cut into the fray. "Sensei, I _told_ you so!"

"What is the meaning of this?" Sensei demanded.

Toshiro yanked his arm away from Naruto's neck, "It was Uzumaki's fault!"

"Yeah," joined a recently recovered Ken. "He just attacked us...like a _monster_ or something,"

Naruto's eyes widened and he turned around. "What?" he yelled, throwing another punch...

Which was caught by Sensei's palm. Naruto stopped, realizing that he had blown it. "Uzumaki Naruto," Sensei spat out, grinning sadistically.

Naruto stared at the ground, trying to block out the sniggers of the other three classmates. His head throbbed with anger and his jaw was set firm as Sensei spelled out his punshiment. "I'm sure we'll have fun in detention."

The sun was setting on Konoha as Naruto exited the academy and made his way down the streets and back to his apartment. The villagers pointedly made an attempt to avert their eyes from the blonde, some gave him weary second glances at the sight of the boy who was mumbling under his breath, thinking he was acting crazier than usual.

In all actuality, Naruto was annoyed. "Damn sensei," he grumbled, dodging out of the way of a passerby at the last minute. "Detention is too boring...it's not like I was the only one fighting, the bastard!"

He continued along that vein as the streets got emptier and dirtier. The dilapidated apartment complex was bathed in the dying crimson of the sun. Naruto sped up into a jog, eager to get into his apartment and sink his teeth into a cup of ramen or four. The blonde was around fifty feet away from the apartment, when he heard a high pitched squawk. The ten year old stopped in his tracks, and turned his head to the right where the sound seemed to be coming from.

There was a sound of a trash can overturning and a bark of laughter. Naruto didn't waste any time in making his way over there. In the shadowy alley, the blonde saw two smaller kids hunched over something. "Hey what the heck's going on?"

One of the smaller kid, a freckly red head whipped his head around, "It's none of your business!" he whined.

Naruto frowned and tiptoed over Red Head and his friend to see a shivering ball of red fur. '_A dog?_' Naruto thought, stepping forward.

Just as Naruto opened his mouth, the ball stopped and unfurled. It looked like a dog except for the elongated face and bushy tail. Naruto's eyes widened: it was a fox and now it wasn't moving. "Hey," the Red Head's companion, a pudgy boy with messy brown hair, said.

He poked at the unconscious form with a stick. "I think it's dead," the boy breathed.

The Red Head turned his attention back to the fox. "Woah!"

Naruto growled and with a deft motion knocked the two boys heads together. "You losers! Don't you have anything better to do?"

Pudgy's face was screwed up in pain and he sniffed. Red Head rubbed his head, looking murderous, "Like I said, it's none of your business!"

Naruto placed his hands on his hips in a defiant pose. "Of course it's my business!" he crowed. "After all, I _am_ Naruto Uzumaki, the future Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato!"

Red looked nonplussed, Pudgy's eyes widened in shock. "M-maybe we should go!" the brown haired kid said to his friend.

Red puffed up. "Hell no!" he yelled. "This idiot doesn't scare me! Future Hokage? That's so lame!"

WHAM! With a punch Red was knocked flat on his back. "You talk too much!" Naruto said, cracking his fists.

The freckled boy stumbled up, fear finally being knocked into him. "L-let's go Ichigo!" he said to his friend.

They slowly began to back away, finally leaping up with two frighting yelps and running for their lives when Naruto brandished his fists and took a step forward. Once the echoes of their yells started to fade away into the distance, Naruto crouched down next to the fox. It was still unmoving, but it was breathing ever so slightly. The boy reached out with one hand and touched it. It didn't move. His hands moved up it's back, petting it, when it caught against something. With his other hand he pushed the aside and saw a black leather collar, engraved with strange silver markings. On base of the neck was a metallic plate with a kanji on it. "Damn, I hate Kanji," Naruto muttered, trying to remember what the strange ideograph meant.

With a buzz of electricity, the streets lights flickered on and Naruto noticed it was now dark. He looked around, and then back down at the fox. He couldn't leave the fox unconscious in a pile of trash. Knowing this neighborhood, those little brats would come looking for something to pass away the boredom. His mind made up he carefully collected the fox in his arms and made his way to his apartment.

Naruto opened the door to his room and sighed when he was greeted by silence and the sound of his kitchen tap leaking, again. He ignored the faucet, eventually the super would be up with tools complaining about Naruto's disorderedness, even if the super tried never to acknowledge his existence normally. He turned on the light switch, and made his way to the kitchen table, placing the fox down. He brushed away some bread crumbs idly, mumbling a quick apology to the fox, as if it mattered. His stomach then growled and he got up and headed over to his old fridge and took out the box of milk. He shook it and it didn't sound like it had gone bad..yet. He took a swig as he made his way to the pantry. Wiping the milk mustache from his mouth, he put down the carton and opened the small pantry. Several packages of instant ramen lay there, making the blonde break out into a small grin.

Then came the hard part: waiting the three minutes it took to cook. He took a seat at the table, glaring kunai into the microwave willing for the counter to speed up. A glance of red from his peripheral vision and he diverted his attention to the red fox. "Hey, you hungry?" he asked.

Much to his surprise the fox stirred. Naruto's eyes widened as he saw the fox move it's head and stare blearily upwards at the light. It let out a strained bark. Naruto shot upwards and grabbed the milk carton, and went back to the table before he realized that the fox couldn't exactly drink from the carton like he could. He found a dusty bowl behind the ramen packets, rinsed it and poured some milk in the bowl. Naruto set the bowl down in front of the fox, that had curled up more within it's self. There was a sniffling noise and the fox stirred.

Just then the microwave turned off with a 'ping'. Naruto's stomach demanded attention and satisfied with the milk, he went to the microwave and opened it. The hearty smell of ramen treated him and he sighed happily. "My one and only true love!"

There was a noise from the fox behind him that sounded suspiciously like a snort. Naruto turned around and frowned, his eyes narrowing to slits as he looked at his ramen. "I wonder," he thought aloud, "Do foxes eat ramen?"

He turned around to get a pair of chopsticks when a voice made him stop in his tracks.

"I am not sure, but I do not think I am desperate enough to try..."


	2. The Talking Fox

**Disclaimer: **Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. I am not doing this for payment.

**Finding Kyuubi **

by: leneypoo

Chapter Two: The Talking Fox

_Naruto turned around and frowned, his eyes narrowing to slits as he looked at his ramen. "I wonder," he thought aloud. "Do foxes eat ramen?" _

_He turned around to get a pair of chopsticks when a voice made him stop in his tracks. "I am not sure, but I do not think I am desperate enough to try..."_

* * *

If Naruto was anyone else who didn't truly appreciate the gift of ramen, he would have dropped the cup he was holding. Instead, he whirled around, pointing an accusing finger at the red lump of fur. "Y-y-you..." he stammered, "You _talk_?!"

The fox raised its head again. "I guess you must be envious human," it drawled, sniffing the air. "Since you obviously do not possess that facility."

Naruto's eyes narrowed again. "Hey!" he said, indignant, "What was that for?!"

The fox did not seem to pay attention to Naruto's chagrin, as it continued to sniff curiously in the air. Suddenly, it gingerly climbed onto its feet and bent over into the bowl of milk. "This is almost spoiled," the fox remarked prissily, "But it is better than nothing."

The fox proceeded to lap up the milk with its tongue. Naruto realized that the fox had its attention elsewhere and ceased his posturing. He then returned to the task of finding chopsticks, and made his way back to the table, chopsticks in hand. Propping his head with the palm of his hand, he began to shovel noodles in his mouth. The talking fox apparently took drinking milk very seriously and kept silent. Naruto entertained the thought that he had fallen asleep while waiting for the ramen, and was dreaming, but the noodle-y feelings of bliss were unmistakably real. "Hey, hey," Naruto prodded the fox, "What's your name? Where did you come from? Do you belong to someone?"

An brown eye slid its gaze onto Naruto and then went back to the milk. After a few seconds, the fox had finished the dregs of the milk and turned to the blond boy. "My name does not concern you. Neither do my origins, and I do not _belong_ to anyone."

The blond scratched his head, confused. "Um, okay..."

The fox leaped nimbly off the table, landing on its feet. "Thank you for the milk. I will take my leave now."

Naruto watched the fox walk away with his jaw dropped. "Wait, what are you doing?" he demanded.

The fox stopped, its ears twitching. "Deaf and dumb...pity," it remarked before starting to walk again.

Naruto shot up from his seat. "Hey! Is that how you treat someone who saved you?" He demanded. "And what's stopping you from getting in trouble again. "

The fox flinched. "That was...a special situation."

"What do you--" Before Naruto could get the question out, the fox leaped and yanked the door open and dashed out.

* * *

Naruto went to bed that night thoughts of snarky fox kits on the brain. He woke up, shaking his head groggily wondering if the fox was okay. He shrugged; There was nothing he could do about it, especially if the fox refused to stay. He quickly took a shower, got dressed and after a couple of cups of ramen, he was ready to head to the academy. Exiting the apartment, he passed through the familiar sights. The street light, that crazy old bum in the alley, the red fox waiting expectantly, the street sign...wait!

Naruto stopped and backtracked. The fox blinked slowly, acknowledging his presence. "Hey it's you again!" Naruto called out.

Naruto, willfully ignoring the fact that he was probably late for classes he didn't want to go to, crouched down and grinned. "At least time you didn't get yourself beat up!"

The fox growled, baring it's small teeth. Naruto's grin grew. There was something about the fox that made it so easy to push it's strings. Then the fox nipped his nose. "Shit!" Naruto drew back, clutching his nose with one hand. "You crazy fox!"

He looked down to see that the fox had disappeared again. He then realized that people were staring at him oddly. Normally, Naruto didn't mind being the center of attention, but as the Future Hokage he couldn't afford to lose face in compromising positions like this. "Hey! Whaddya you lookin' at!" Naruto yelled, brandishing a fist.

There were some mumblings and titters and Naruto heard someone say something along the lines of "Honey, lets just walk away from the crazy boy...he might be catching."

Naruto then glanced at the clock in the middle of the street and leaped in the air, shocked. "I'm LATE! ARGH!"

His cries could be heard for blocks as he sped off towards the Academy Building.

The fox, leaping down from a light pole, watched the orange-clad shinobi's departure.

"It is not possible. Could it really be _him_?"

* * *

Naruto attempted using his 'stellar ninja skillz' to sneak into the Academy unnoticed, but unfortunately for him, the enemies also had 'stellar ninja skillz'.

Which was why instead of trying to stay awake during the inevitable boring history lecture, he was standing outside the class two heavy buckets of water in hand. He tried sleeping anyway, but it seemed the minute he'd relax his hold on the bucket, the strange hall monitor would appear smacking him upside the head and yelling. A yelling match would ensue, and only when the monitor threatened to hold him back another year would Naruto back down, cursing under his breath and take up the tedious task again.

"It serves you right Uzumaki," the monitor, Yuki, said adjusting his glasses as he looked down on the boy haughtily, "Maybe next time you'll think of this before you show up late to classes."

With a disapproving sniff, Yuki turned around and waltzed down the hall way, unaware of Naruto putting on a nasty face and pulling rude gestures behind his back. "Stupid asshole," Naruto grumbled to himself.

He stood there for a minute before he growled in frustration. He had to some how get out of this. Ideas flew into his head, but each one even more ludicrous than the last. Surely enough a rare feeling of hopelessness started to seep into Naruto's demeanor. Then an idea came to him. If he could make a clone that looked like he was standing here, he could dash off and find something better to do. The boy's spirits rose. It was the perfect idea. Now all he had to do was...

Successfully perform a jutsu that he had never managed to pull off.

Ever.

"Gah!" Naruto hopped around in frustration, the water in the bucket sloshing about.

Naruto fumed for a while before a determined look set on his face. "Well if it's ever a time to learn bunshin, it's now!" he said, bringing his hands together.

He gathered up chakra and firmly he said. "_Bunshin no Jutsu_"

He felt a ping that marked the chakra manifesting itself into a form and a poof of smoke. The smoke cleared and Naruto looked upon his handiwork.

A sad misshapen excuse for a clone lay sprawled against the floor, his hands stuck in the water buckets. Naruto kicked the illusion and it dispersed. "Ugh how crappy!"

* * *

With a loud bang the door to the classroom opened and the talking children fell quickly into science. A small little balding man with black hair grinned at them. "Welcome children. I am your substitute teacher. Yarou-sensei"

The kids looked at each other excitedly. Someone muttered something about not having to turn in the mock mission reports from the last survival training exercise. The small man watched them with a growing smile. "Today children we will be doing chakra drills!"

There was whoops of joy from the boys, and some groans from some of the girls. Yarou-grinned and his eyes flashing deviantly.

* * *

Yuki made his rounds through the academy and came back to the front door of the first year classroom. Strangely Naruto had been standing there quietly for the past half hour. "Holding up there Uzumaki?" he asked. "You've been quiet. Maybe you can get off early for good beha—what the?!"

As he came closer, what he thought was Naruto Uzumaki, was really a coat rack his jacket and pants and string holding the buckets together. "H-how?" Yuki stammered completely confused.

"NA-RU-_TO_!"


End file.
